Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya Case Study

The Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Memorial Institution) is a museum and public service institution dedicated to preserve the work and memory and commemorate the life of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. It is located at Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, India on the banks of River Sabarmati. It houses tens of thousands of letters to and by Gandhi, as well as photographs and books.[1]

It was designed by the renowned architect Charles Correa beginning in 1958. The museum, Correa's first important commission, consisted originally of 51 modular units, each 6 x 6 metres, surrounding a water court. The complex was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1963.[1]

These elements combine to form a pattern of tiled roofs which are grouped in casual meandering pattern, creating a pathway along which the visitors progresses towards the centrality of the water court

Philosophy:

Successfully shows the life of Gandhiji

Minimalist architecture

Material honesty

Contemporary architecture

Glow of spaces

JEEWAN BHARTI , DELHI

This office complex of LIC is situated on the outer road of Connaught circle and acts as a pivot between the colonnades of CP and new generation of high rise towers that now surround it . Thus the building is both a proscenium and a backdrop: a 12 storey stage set whose faceted glass surface reflects the buildings and trees around CP.

Two lower levels of the complex consists of shopping decks and restaurants while upper level are offices located in two separate wings . A pergola connects the two buildings .

A city proposal for an elevated pedestrian walkways if constructed will pass through the two blocks , allowing pedestrians to traverse the building as the great darwaza ie gateway defined by a portico form.

Charles Correa:

Education

1946-1948 inter-science. St. Xavier’s college, university of Bombay

1949-1955 B.Arch., University of Michigan.

1953-1955 M.Arch., Massachusetts institute of technology.

Professional Experience

1955-1958 partner with G.M. BHUTA associates

1958- to date in private practice.

1964-1965 prepared master plan proposing twin city across the harbor from Bombay.

1969-1971 invited by the govt. of Peru

1971-1975 chief architect to CIDCO

1975-1976 consultant to UN secretory-general for HABITAT

1975-1983 Chairman Housing Urban Renewal & Ecology Board

1985 chairman dharavavi palnning commision

About him:

Born into a middle-class Catholic family in Bombay

Became fascinated with the principles of design as a child

At Michigan two professors who influenced him the most – Walter Salders and Buckminister Fuller.

Kevin lynch , then in the process of developing his themes for image of the city triggered Correa’s interest in urban issues

‘India of those days was a different place, it was a brand-new country, there was so much hope; India stimulated me.’

Architect, planner, activist and theoretician, an international lecturer and traveler.

Correa’s work in India shows a careful development, understanding and adaptation of Modernism to a non-western culture. Correa’s early works attempt to explore a local vernacular within a modern environment. Correa’s land-use planning and community projects continually try to go beyond typical solutions to third world problems.

India’s first man of architecture has a very simple philosophy: “Unless you believe in what you do, it becomes … boring,”

AWARDS:

1961 Prize for low-income housing early

1972 Correa was awarded the PadmaShri by the President of India

1980 Correa was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Michigan

1984 He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects

1985 Prize for the Improvement in the Quality of Human

Settlements from the International Union of Architects.

1986 Chicago Architecture Award.

1987 the Gold Medal of the Indian Institute of Architects

1990 the Gold Medal of the UIA (International Union of Architects)

1994 the Premium Imperial from Japan society of art.

1999 Aga khan award for vidhan sabha, bhopal

Diversity

In Bombay – Salvacao Church at Dadar ; Kanchanjunga Apartments

In Goa for the Cidade de Goa Hotel and the Kala Academy,

In Ahmedabad – Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya ; Ramkrishna House

Delhi – The LIC Centre; British Council Building

Kerala – Kovalam Beach Resort Hotel

Andamans – Bay Island Hotel in Port Blair

Architectural utility and grandeur spread over the subcontinent

Principles

Few cardinal principles in his vast body of work;

incrementality

pluralism

participation

income generation

equity

open-to-sky space

disaggregation.

Belapur housing being the one project where he has literally used these principals

Correa and Corbusier

Like most architects of his generation he has been influenced by Le Corbusier , but by his response to the Mediterranean sun with his grand sculptural decisions he believes that Corbusier’s influence in the colder climates has not been beneficial because these heroic gestures had to withdraw into defensible space, into mechanically heated (and cooled) interiors of the building.

On way back to Bombay in 1955 – saw the Jaoul House (le Corbusier) in Paris under construction

‘I was absolutely knocked out . It was a whole new world way beyond anything being taught in America at that time .then I saw Chandigarh and his buildings in Ahmedabad . They seemed the only way to build.”

Correa and Gandhi

Gandhi’s goal for an independent India had been a village model, non-industrial, its architecture simple and traditional

In these early works Correa demonstrates uncompromising execution of an idea as a powerful statement of form